


Allies of Justice

by FeralPrince56



Category: DCU (Comics), Persona 5
Genre: Character Study, Gen, It's mostly just Akechi and Jason the others are cameos, Self-Indulgent, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-30
Updated: 2019-06-30
Packaged: 2020-05-31 09:42:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19423396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FeralPrince56/pseuds/FeralPrince56
Summary: On the one hand, chasing down ridiculous conspiracy theories about politicians and how they're brainwashing people was not what Jason trained for. On the other, being owed a favour from Dick Grayson for blowing a hole in said conspiracy was probably worth it in the long run.At least until he has to meet with the one person who may know the most about it. He's been working on the case for the past two years after all. Too bad he's a pretentious 18-year-old douche calling himself the Second Advent of the Detective Prince. He can't be as bad as Bruce though... can he?





	Allies of Justice

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, and welcome to my random crossover! I used to be such a massive batfam fan and noticed that in some iterations, Jason and Akechi have so much in common that I had to write them meeting.  
> And after the Proof of Justice OVA came out, I finally figured out how I'm gonna write it, so here goes. Hope you enjoy it! (I may or may not have taken some liberties with how proficient certain characters are in English for the sake of this fic)

Jason could have refused. Really, he absolutely should have refused because what Dick was asking him to do sounded exactly like some bullshit YouTube conspiracy theory that people who wore actual tin foil hats would believe.

Yet he still lets himself get roped into uncovering some massive conspiracy in the Japanese government to get one guy elected, going all the way from the CEO of a food corporation to some random high school principal. Really, the whole thing was laughable, but on the other hand if this conspiracy is real, then all of the people combined will have killed hundreds of innocent people, all for their self-benefit, people who of course the Japanese police wouldn’t touch cos they were in their pockets too.

However, corrupt politicians were one thing. If it were just that, Jason would have no problem going in, figuring out what the hell was going on and coming back in return for the sweet, sweet Wayne Enterprises equipment Dick was willing to accidentally leave the door open for any outlaw to come in and take, but far more importantly, bragging rights and having Dick Grayson of all people owe him.

But no, of course it couldn’t be that easy. Somehow in all of this was someone working for Masayoshi Shido, messing with people’s heads by what’s being referred to as mental shutdowns and psychotic breakdowns.

That was one of the few people in this wild conspiracy that Dick couldn’t name, but at least the leads may be somewhat helpful.

A complete lack of knowledge of the Japanese language, however, was not.

It’s what leads Jason to sit outside Tokyo’s criminal courthouse, scrolling through the terribly translated Japanese blogs and news websites courtesy of Google translate to dig up whatever he can on the biggest expert of the incidents. Some 18-year-old brat being praised as the Detective Prince.

Even Bruce wasn’t that pretentious.

However, waiting only gets him so far, and in this case, sitting for two hours on a bench doing nothing proves to be the worst idea, so he stands up and walks into the courthouse. It’s a public place as far as he’s aware, no one can stop him from looking around so long as he doesn’t cause any trouble.

So, he does just that, but inside the hallway he doesn’t spot the kid, who he presumes would stand out from all the adults around. In a last-ditch effort, he walks over to the nearest person he could find that looked like they worked there, a silver haired woman in a back suit and turtleneck. Playing up the lost and confused idiot, he smiles too widely when she looks up at him from her files, “Sorry to interrupt but, do you speak English?”

The woman nods, and looks back down at her file, “I am very busy, so please make it quick,” she replied back, flipping over to the next page.

Unlocking his phone, Jason pulls up a photo from one of the news articles and shows it to her, “Do you know Goro Akechi? I’m looking for him.”

The woman chuckles, although it’s really more sarcastic than honest, and she shakes her head, “I didn’t know his fans stretched out beyond Japan. I’m sorry, he is a colleague of mine and I refuse to give out his personal information.”

Jason quick shakes his head and puts his phone back in his pocket, “I’m really not a fan, honestly, I only found out about the guy yesterday. I have something he might want to know about the mental shutdown stuff going on here.”

“And you came all the way from the US to do it instead of calling?” The woman closes her file and folds her arms, “Akechi’s busy working on a different case, but I’m the leading prosecutor regarding the mental shutdown cases. If you have any information, tell me.”

No way was he going to speak to a prosecutor in a courthouse. For one, he has no actual information she probably didn’t know already, secondly, she’s a young prosecutor and yet she’s in charge of such a big case? There’s no way she would ever give up any sensitive information regarding her own case to some jackass that just walked in with nothing more than a picture of some famous detective on his phone, “I’d rather just talk to Akechi about it... I mean the guy looks like he’s easy to talk to, y’know?”

The prosecutor rolls her eyes and sighs, “I suppose he’ll relay all of this back to me anyway. Fine, I won’t give you his address, but I do know that when he isn’t in here, the TV station, home or at school, you can find him in a cafe in the backstreets of Yongen-Jaya. I would start my search there.”

The location doesn’t tell Jason much, nothing in fact, and it’s apparently clear enough that it shows on Jason’s face to the point that the prosecutor helps him navigating, “I assume you’ve taken the subway? Go to Shibuya station, from there get the Den-entoshi line to Yongen-Jaya. Leblanc isn’t so far from the station, but you may want to ask around once you’re there, so you don’t get lost in the back alleys.”

* * *

Two over-packed subway rides later, Jason steps out from the train station of Yongen-Jaya and instead of risking trying to ask the people around till he can find someone who speaks English, he pulls his phone out and searches for the place by simply googling it. The café does turn out to only be a street away from the station, so Jason makes his way over, sure to keep looking down at his phone every time he thinks he’s even lost for a second, or thinks he risks going in the wrong direction. Even getting out of the station the right way has him second guessing, but eventually he finds himself standing outside the café, which luckily spelled out its name in Romanji.

When he opens the door, some bells chime right above him, and chime once again when the doors close behind him. The man behind the bar, presumably the owner, drops his newspaper and immediately speaks to him in English, “What can I get you?”

The café is almost empty, save for a girl with red hair who kind of reminded him of Barbara sitting in one of the booths with her laptop out, the owner, a barista who’s probably still in high school, and luckily for him, Goro Akechi, who sits at the bar, looking down at a crossword puzzle he’s solving and a hot cup of coffee in front of him. Jason points to the detective, “I’ll have whatever he’s having.”

“Hm?” Akechi looks up, confused look briefly flashing on his face. He closes the book and looks over to Jason, “Do I know you?”

Jason shakes his head, “Just here to enjoy some coffee. You gotta assume someone called the detective prince would have good taste in that,” he takes a seat next to the detective while the other barista gets to it, “Your prosecutor friend said I might find you here.”

Akechi takes a sip of his coffee and sets down his cup, “Oh? Last I recalled no one wanted to hear me talk about the Phantom Thieves anymore, considering the public’s belief about justice being on their side.”

“You’re annoyed that the attention’s moved from you to them,” the barista comments without looking up from the cup he’s pouring hot water into through a filter. Akechi shrugs at the comment, but before he can reply, Jason interrupts them.

“Yeah I don’t care much for them,” Jason replies like he actually knows who the hell the Phantom Thieves are and why they seem to be such a big deal around the place, “You’re the expert on mental shutdowns, right?”

Both Akechi and the barista throw each other a knowing look, even the girl in the back moves in her seat uncomfortably at the mention. The only one who doesn’t take any notice is the owner, who just goes back to reading his newspaper. The barista serves Jason his coffee, and Jason sets down the required change on the counter. Akechi himself clears his throat before speaking, “I cannot disclose any information about that to the public.”

“And if I’m not the public?”

“I didn’t know the Americans had a vested interest in this case,” Akechi throws back, picking up his cup and downing the rest of the coffee, “FBI? CIA? I’ll need proof either way, as I’m sure you understand.”

He didn’t dare show his fake badge, courtesy of Grayson, to the prosecutor, but it’s unlikely the kid in front of him has seen the real thing in his life, so there’s no hesitation when Jason pulls it out to show the detective that he did, in fact, work for the FBI.

When he does so, the girl in the back leans over to take a look, briefly muttering something in Japanese to the barista. Akechi takes the badge from him, takes a hard look at it, then hands it back before replying to the girl in Japanese, then returning it to Jason, “Does she not believe me?” Jason asks.

“She’s wondering why they’d send someone who doesn’t speak Japanese,” the barista replies instead before saying something to the girl in Japanese again, which stops her from typing.

Akechi quickly explains, “She’s quite proficient in obtaining data from what I've heard, but we wouldn’t want her doing anything illegal to make sure you’re legitimate, would we?”

Jason shakes his head. He already knows he’s got his back covered by Fox in that regard should anyone double check his credentials, “No need. I understand you don’t want to talk about it here-.”

Akechi takes a notepad out from the inside of his school uniforms jacket and a pen, tears out a page and writes down an address on it, “I have some business to attend to now regardless. However it shouldn’t take me too long, so please,” he get out of his seat, and picks up a silver briefcase resting on the chair besides him that only now Jason realised had his initial painted onto it, “feel free to drop by that address in two hours. I’m sure Kurusu-kun or Sakura-chan can help you with directions.”

The detective thanks the owner for the coffee, and leaves Jason behind in the café with the other three. With little idea as to who was who, the barista introduces himself while leaning over to look the address, “four months after meeting me the guy still won’t give me his number, but he gives you his address?” The girl says something, and as if replying to her, a cat jumps next to her in the booth and meows. Even the barista seems to acknowledge it as a reply, “I’m not infatuated, I’m just trying to understand him more,” he looks up at Jason, “I’m Kurusu, by the way, but you can call me Akira. She’s Sakura, but she’s more likely to respond to Futaba or Alibaba.”

* * *

Considering how long he’s been waiting already, Jason gets out of his seat as soon as he’s finished his coffee. He thanks both Akira and the café owner for the coffee, and ducks out of Leblanc. He pulls out his phone, checks on the tracker he managed to place on Akechi when he handed him the fake FBI badge, and finds the young detective heading for Shibuya station. Jason manages to remember his way back to the station in Yongen-Jaya, keeping track of Akechi’s movements.

The tracker puts him still in Shibuya station by the time Jason gets there, barely moving from some spot he found in a corner of the station. It’ll be harder for Jason to track him if the guys completely secluded, but nothing he hasn’t done before. It only takes him five minutes of wandering around to finally find the detective with his briefcase set down on the floor and apparently talking to someone over the phone in Japanese.

While there’s no way for Jason to understand what he’s saying, he can tell that Akechi isn’t super comfortable with the conversation, occasionally frowning at whatever the person on the other end of the call said but not raising his voice once, leaving Jason to think that whoever Akechi is talking to must be an authoritative figure to him, perhaps his boss. When Akechi ends his phone call, he pulls away from the phone, but keeps to his corner. He looks up, and Jason turns around, hiding behind a column.

Since Akechi hadn’t come up or said anything to him, Jason assumes he doesn’t notice and peaks back out again, this time seeing him type something into his phone, then speaking into it like he was on loudspeaker with someone, though only the phone’s AI answers back in Japanese.

As soon as Akechi hits a button on his phone, Jason winces as a sharp pain appears, then suddenly disappears from his head. When he reopens his eyes, he can barely recognise the station around him.

The walls are red, as are the floors and walls, and the entire place looks like something out of a post-apocalyptic film. There are black roots growing on the floors and walls that occasionally shine red, as if something were passing through them. Jason’s first thought is that whatever Akechi apparently took in his coffee sure gave people a kick, at least until he spots a person in the same place as Akechi, but unlike the clean cut uniform he was wearing before, something else covers his body.

His face is completely covered by a black visor attached to a black helmet, while the rest of his body is covered in a striped black and dark blue fabric, and a black cape attached to the ensemble. Despite being unable to see his face, Jason’s certain that it has to be Akechi, and the same detective from earlier kneels down besides his briefcase, opens it, and then opens up a hidden compartment of the briefcase that held a pistol and silencer inside.

Maybe Dick’s conspiracy theory wasn’t so crazy after all, now that Jason was seeing all of this unfold in front of his eyes. Then again, he’s seen weirder.

It’s only when Akechi leaves his spot that Jason notices just how empty the rest of the subway is, and he comes to the conclusion that there’s absolutely no way he’s in the same Shibuya station as he was before. He’ll figure that out later. Right now, he needs to find out what the hell Akechi is up to, so he follows the detective down a moving escalator into the depths of the subway.

Further down, the subway gets even weirder, with train tracks leading to dead ends or spiraling in no particular direction, the sounds wind and howling voices coming from further bellow, and worst of all, strange black figures wearing white masks with shining blue eyes that ran away the moment they spotted Akechi. The detective doesn’t seem to be the least bit moved by the scenery, instead finding another set of escalators that lead further down into the nightmarish hellscape that is… whatever this place is.

Eventually, Akechi finds where he’s meant to get to, walking through thick red and black mist where the tracks even move and twist off of the ground, disappearing out of sight. There’s probably worse things Jason’s faced before, but he’s reluctant to go in with no idea what to expect on the other side, but... he did make a deal after all. He follows Akechi, and suddenly finds himself in some closed off area of the place where the tracks end, but more importantly, Akechi’s shooting at… something? As far as Jason could tell, it’s a robot that manages to reflect the bullets Akechi shoots at it, and when he pulls out a red serrated sword, it throws him back too.

Akechi grunts when he hits the floor, but he doesn’t stop. With his right hand, he reaches for his visor and pulls it off, “Loki!” He shouts, and the mask disappears in a blue flame. Above him, another creature appears, Loki, Jason assumes, wielding a red sword and covered in black and white uneven stripes. The creature looks bored out of his mind as he strikes the robot with his own sword, this time landing a hit and setting it on fire. The robot begins to burn, and tries to hit Akechi, but the detective dodges again and this time, when Loki swings around his sword, purple energy erupts from it, hitting the robot and causing it to dissolve into black mist.

Akechi stays there, looking up at Loki like he’s hearing him speak, but Jason can’t hear a thing, “Huh?” He hears Akechi say, right before he turns around, facing in Jason’s direction and pointing a gun directly at him despite hiding in the shadows, “Perhaps I should’ve thought better of you than as just a simple law enforcer like the Japanese police. You appear to be slightly more competent than they are.”

Jason pulls out his own two guns from the inside of his jacket, but he remains in the Shadows. For all he knows, Akechi’s only heard him and can’t actually see where he is, and that visor that’s reappeared on his face in the same wave of blue flames can’t be helping, “You’re one to talk. So, is all that Detective Prince stuff bullshit then? Last I checked, he average high school detective doesn’t use superpowers to fight robots.”

Akechi chuckles, “I see, you have no idea what just happened, do you? You merely followed me into Mementos in hopes of seeing me work, correct?” Akechi reaches for his visor once more, and Loki reappears. Something shines right in front of him when Loki swings around his sword and disappears once more, “Come on out, agent. If you shoot me now, the bullet will reflect and hit you instead, and I don’t think you’re quite as resistant to bullets in this world as I am.”

On one hand, he could try and shoot this smug guy in the leg and the worst he risks is getting his own leg grazed. On the other, trying to shoot the guy with a gun pointed in his direction too, the same guy he’s trying to get information out of, may not be the best idea. He puts his guns back in their holsters and leaves the shadows, “Let me guess then, you’re a detective who’s looking into the mental shutdown cases and an expert on them because you’re causing them in the first place. You’re using the job as a cover up, right?”

Akechi shakes his head, gun still trained on Jason, “Close, but not quite. The Detective Prince persona is certainly useful, but I have… ulterior motives behind that… Oh?” He stops talking, and as if listening to someone else speak, he nods, “I see… you’re not surprised by any of this? I’m not the only one who’s image is complete horseshit then? Who are you really working for?”

“Boy that sure is a long story,” Jason can’t help but saying, “But I’ll tell you now, there are a lot of people who know I went searching for you. Actual, real detectives. Honestly, I couldn’t care less if you killed me now but trust me, if I disappear, they are gonna uncover all of this way quicker than I did.”

A silence falls over the two of them while Akechi thinks over Jason’s words, but they’re soon interrupted by the sound of chains, the only thing that apparently seems to bother Akechi about the whole place. He holsters his gun and points to the red and black mist they came out of, “Not that I have any reason to believe anything you just said… but I already have too much blood on my hands, I don’t need yours. Let’s go, before the Reaper gets here.”

* * *

They walk to Akechi’s apartment in silence once they leave the strange underground tracks and tunnels, with Akechi clearly not wanting to bring up the events that happened in Mementos, as Jason recalls him calling it, and Jason choosing to respect that on top of not wanting to get some weird looks from anyone that could understand them.

When they step inside the apartment, Akechi puts his briefcase on top of a dinning room table while Jason looks around. It felt more like a hotel room than an actual apartment, the walls white and completely bare, no decorations, photos or trinkets to mark the place as belonging to someone. He sees only two doors that lead out from the living room, one open to reveal a small bathroom, and the closed one presumably leading to only one bedroom, and no adults to be seen anywhere.

“Aren’t you still in high school?”

“What of it?” Akechi asks while he begins to boil some water in the kitchen. He turns around and see Jason looking towards the bedroom door, “Ah… right. I’ve lived alone for the past two years, and yes, it is completely legal if that’s what you’re wondering. Both my school and my employers are aware of my circumstances, but it is not public information and I wish for it to remain as such.”

“Which employer?” Jason digs, and Akechi furrows his eyebrow at the remark.

“All of them,” He answers ominously, and nods to the kettle, “Would you like some tea?”

“You’re being very welcoming for a… well, not detective, hitman?” Jason guesses, but regardless of it, he sits down at the dinning table and asks Akechi for the same tea as whatever Akechi was going to drink again, “Speaking of, why exactly didn’t you kill me back then?”

The water finishes boiling, and Akechi takes out some tea leaves and mugs from one of his cupboards. He places the tea leaves into a filter, into the mugs, then pours the tea carefully over them, “You heard what I said in Mementos… on top of that, if possible, I prefer not to kill those who aren’t deserving of it or stand in my way; I have other methods for disposing of people like that but I’m not quite sure it would have worked on you. Besides, I haven’t ever killed a real person in the Metaverse, and while mental shutdowns don’t leave any evidence behind, I have no such guarantee of that happening if I were to shoot you and leave your body there.”

Akechi carries the mugs over and sits down opposite Jason, acting now like they were having a normal, everyday conversation. Then again, talking murder and mysteries became the norm for Jason ever since he put on that ridiculous yellow cape, “So, now that I know all of this, what _are_ your plans for me? You had the advantage over there, but out in the real world there’s no way you’ll be able to even think about killing me before I put a bullet through your head.”

Akechi hums, the threat apparently not fazing him the slightest, worrying Jason about what some average Japanese high schooler must’ve gone through to not only moonlight as a supernatural hitman but not be at all fazed by any kinds of threats, “Currently? I have half a mind to tell my employer about all of this and have you taken care of by someone more suited for the job… on the other hand, I have no such obligation and I’d rather not face the consequences of him finding out I was discovered.”

“So…?” Jason trails off, hoping for Akechi to get a bit clearer.

“I’m curious,” He eventually replies, takes a sip of his tea, then continues, “You’re clearly not FBI, but I hardly doubt a mercenary would go through this much trouble with a target, and yet you clearly work outside of the law, not with it. Why is an outsider like you interested in mental shutdowns?”

Jason picks up his mug and takes a sip of his own tea, clears his throat and speaks, “Huh, I guess only half of the Detective Prince stuff is bullshit then. I’m not here about mental shutdowns. Well, I am, but specifically an acquaintance of mine asked me to look into a government wide conspiracy and to confirm it for him. He was hoping you might have something on it since you’re the detective on the case but I’m guessing you’ll know because you actually work for the guy.”

Akechi shakes his head, “Whatever the truth is, I cannot tell you. Not out of some loyalty to my employer, I couldn’t care less about what happens to the bastard, but out of my own plans,” Jason notices the grip on his mug getting stronger by the creasing sound of his leather gloves when talking about said employer.

“Right,” Jason looks away from Akechi’s hands and at his face, noticing how he’s clearly trying to avoid Jason’s look. He turns his head, looking around the apartment once more, then back over to Akechi, changing the subject entirely, “I’m not FBI, or a mercenary. Honestly, I’m just some asshole who got lucky when he tried stealing the wheels off the batmobile and didn’t get thrown in jail. Or maybe it's unlucky, who knows now?”

Curious about the story and probably not fully believing it, Akechi looks up with a cocked eyebrow, “Surely you aren’t stupid enough to do that. I’ve heard and read the stories, and even if only half are true then you’d have to be an idiot to try to do such a thing involving _him_.”

“Was stupid enough,” Jason corrects him and drinks some more of the tea, “and desperate enough. I was just some kid living in the street or whatever abandoned apartment I could find. It was better than anything Gotham’s orphanages could offer anyway. Figured juvie wouldn’t be that much worse than what I was doing anyway, and at least the food would be free.”

“I see,” Akechi takes a long drink of his own tea, finishing it, then sets the mug down and pushes it away from him, “If you don’t mind me asking, when…?” He struggles to find the right phrasing, but Jason doesn’t need to hear the rest to know what he’s asking.

“Well, my asshole of a dad went to prison then bailed when he was released, I was about 8 at the time. Mom wasn’t doing so great so I ended up taking care of her, which is when I started stealing shit from people who already had too much,” Jason explains, now finding himself in Akechi’s position of looking anywhere but directly at him, “But I lost her to her addiction and ended up fending for myself when I was 11.” 

It's strange, really, finding it so easy to talk to Akechi about something like his past, like there's no reason to hold back from him. Maybe it's from the sense that the two aren't so different that Jason get's when looking around the empty apartment and hearing Akechi's tone of voice when barely discussing his own business, maybe it's that he seems genuinely interested in what Jason has to say. It's probably just the job, Jason decides in the end. Opening up to Akechi will probably get the other to open up about the Mementos stuff, right?

“That isn’t where the story ends, is it?” Akechi asks, bringing Jason back into the conversation from his thoughts, “Otherwise you would not be here, talking with me, on some kind of mission in a different country merely to confirm a theory of an acquaintance of yours, one that believes you have the skills to do it,” he explains his logic, and Jason nods.

“It’s not, but the rest isn’t exactly relevant.”

“And what made your story relevant at all in the first place?” Akechi insists and given how smart the kids shown to be already, he knows he’s only playing stupid to avoid telling his own story.

Jason drinks the rest of his tea, moves the mug down the table next to Akechi’s, who picks them both up, stands up and takes them to the sink where he washes them, “I think you’re too smart to ask me that sort of thing. So, if you’re not going to tell me about your employer, how about you tell me how you got into this mess in the first place. Give me a reason not to hand you over to the police right now, or that prosecutor friend of yours.”

“Niijima? Oh please, you have no evidence against me,” Akechi points out and clearly tries to avoid the subject, and it’s definitely a technique Jason’s seen, and well, used himself. Repressed feelings might as well be the Bat Family’s motto after all.

“I’ve known you for a few hours and already managed to follow you into your weird-ass, twisted world and uncovered you’re the guy who’s been toying with the country for the past two years,” Jason counters but he knows it’s not gonna be enough to convince him, “If that’s not enough incentive, how about this; I know what repressed emotions look like, and if I didn’t know the one other person who was dealing with those things worse than you, I’d say you’re the walking definition of it. If nothing else, think of me as some therapist you can vent at and never hear from again. I figure someone like you could use something like that.”

“Why?” Akechi doesn’t turn around from the sink, “Why do you even care?”

Why did Jason care? That was certainly a good question. As far as he’s aware, Akechi’s a psychopath doing all of this for shits and giggles. Except… a psychopath wouldn’t leave him alive and certainly wouldn’t bring him back to his apartment with him to talk things out. At the very least he would have sold him out to his employer and had, presumably, the Yakuza deal with him. Or try to.

(Sure, Jason could kick all of their asses but Akechi's hardly going to know that, let alone his employer).

No, there’s more to the guy. His reactions remind him too much of his own back when he was pissed off with the world for dealing him not only a shitty hand, but then throwing him a lifeline only to send him six feet under and forcing him to climb out of his own grave. Whatever his past is, Akechi’s couldn’t have been as intense as his unless he also got beaten senseless and blown up by the Joker, but there’s no doubt in Jason’s mind that anyone who becomes a hitman at age 15 is either crazy, desperate or has no other choice, and Jason’s sure it’s not the first one.

“Because, I know what it’s like to be pissed off at the world and only have it piss on you some more,” Jason explains when he finally finds the right, if not the most eloquent, words, “But in some ways… I was kinda lucky. Even if it was messed up, I had people who helped me direct that rage and use it for good. But living in an apartment like this all alone, spending your free time alone in a café and taking out your anger by killing monsters makes me think you don’t have any of that.”

There’s a silence when Akechi finally turns off the tap and begins to dry the cups with a dishcloth, still with his back to Jason, “…they’re called Shadows. They aren’t monsters, simply the true nature of society. Everyone hides behind a mask; Shadows are what happens when you remove that and showcase your deepest desires.”

Well, at least he’s giving Jason some information. It’s a start, he thinks, “And that thing you summoned, Loki, is he a Shadow too?”

Akechi shakes his head while putting the mugs back into the cupboard he took them out of, “I suppose in a way, yes. But he is different. He is my Persona, my… other self. He is me, and I am him. But for more practical purposes, he is how I can fight and defend myself in the cognitive world. ! normal person cannot safely venture through the Metaverse. You were lucky none of the Shadows spotted you. In that world, I am protected by Loki, but I can use his power to defeat the Shadows as well.”

“Persona, huh?” Jason asks, “Any reason why he’s named after a Norse trickster god or did you think that name was fitting?”

Akechi shakes his head, taking a seat opposite him once more, “He _is_ that trickster god. It’s never been quite clear to me, but I believe I can summon him as he and I have quite a lot in common. He lends me his power and speaks to me, and before you ask, it does include the psychotic breakdowns too, yes.”

Once again, silence fills the room when Jason has no further questions that he hasn’t already asked that were either deflected or answered. He sits with his arms folded over his chest, waiting for Akechi to say something, until another question comes to mind, “Who are the Phantom Thieves?”

Akechi looks up from his hands resting on the table and smirks, “If you’ve managed to survive one trip, I suppose another one won’t kill you. I can show you, if you’d like.”

* * *

The next day Dick ends up calling him, and Jason, kind brother that he was, sends him to voicemail. He knows how Dick would react to the news; Akechi killed a bunch of people, so he’s responsible, so then he should be interrogated until he tells them who their employer is and sent to jail as soon as they get a confession from him.

There are parts of Jason that think it’s not entirely a wrong way of thinking, it’s what happens when Batman’s your role model, and sure, it might end the mental shutdowns, but Jason can’t let this go unsolved. He can’t just let this guy take the fall for a system that failed him. On the other hand, he doesn’t want to go home empty handed, so when the time comes to tell Dick the truth, he’ll have to consider what exactly he’ll tell him, and what he should keep for himself. Hopefully Dick won’t follow up on it, not if he’s already trusting him enough to go alone to a different country and not kill everyone responsible.

Instead, he takes an alternative approach, bonding with the detective in the weirdest way possible by stalking the barista and the girl from the previous day while keeping out of sight. At least this time he’s made sure to bring his gear, his helmet safely in the bag he carries and Kevlar underneath his zipped-up jacket, “So, the Phantom Thieves are another bunch of high schoolers? How do you know them, you don’t even go to the same school,” Jason points to Akechi’s school uniform.

“Kurusu lives in the café I frequent,” Akechi explains, “meeting him and befriending him was mere coincidence at first. I couldn’t have known he was their leader.”

“They don’t cause mental shutdowns like you though,” Jason points out. He would’ve heard about them from Dick otherwise, given their popularity in the country. There wasn't a shop they passed by that didn't sell their merch.

“They change hearts,” Akechi explains, “They’ve discovered a way of using the Metaverse in a way that makes their targets realise all of the terrible things they have done, which forces them to confess. They target criminals, and as a result have become extremely popular. No one knows who they are, surprising considering how many times Sakamoto has screamed about it around the station.”

Even without knowing which one Sakamoto is, he figures it’s the loudest guy in the group, the blond guy currently shouting at the cat poking his head out from Akira’s bag. Akira himself isn’t paying attention to any of it, flicking through his phone while the rest of the group chat. Just like Akechi before, Akira speaks into the phone, and when he taps it, the same headache from before comes back for Jason.

When he opens his eyes, the world around them seems mostly unchanged, if not for the missing crowds from around the station. Looking down at Akechi, even he hasn’t changed, standing next to him in the school uniform still. Seeing the confusion on Jason’s face, Akechi clarifies with a lowered voice, “We are in the Metaverse, but only the inside of the station is Mementos. Outside, neither I nor the Thieves are seen as a threat, so our appearance does not change. That being said, you should be ready. You have a way to cover your identity from them, I assume?”

Reaching into his bag, Jason pulls out a mask and puts it on first, only then reaching for his helmet to put that on top if it. He hides the bag behind some bushes, planning to retrieve it later, and unzips his jacket, then gives Akechi the thumbs up.

“Then let us proceed. I need not tell you to remain cautious, and act as you did with me yesterday. The Thieves are not as perceptive as I am, but I would rather not get cocky and have them uncover either one of us,” Akechi explains in a hushed tone, then leads Jason back down into the depths.

It’s not long till they catch up with the group and Akechi’s clothes change, but it’s not just him who looks different. Everyone but Jason has had their clothes replaced by far more extravagant clothing, although even with the masks Jason’s fairly certain he can match each of them to the group he saw outside.

“How many target’s we got this time?” Sakamoto asks, and although he’s certain it was in Japanese, Jason somehow ends up understanding. Akechi called it the cognitive world, right? So, if it messes with perception, maybe that’s how he can understand them without knowing the language. It’s good to know, then, in the worst-case scenario of them uncovering the two, he won’t be using Akechi’s name at all in the depths.

“Oh!” Futaba exclaims, “There’s two on one floor, and another one a bit lower. Uhhh… I think I can navigate us there so long as Queen drives.” Of course, they’d have codenames. It’s almost cute, Jason thinks, if it weren’t for the fact that probably none of them were trained and yet they’re somehow famous vigilantes.

Another girl, presumably Queen, speaks up, “Of course…” she looks at another one of her teammates, one who’s face has clearly gotten even paler than his usual complexion, “Don’t worry, Fox, I’ll be sure to drive slowly around the turns this time.”

“I appreciate that, thank you,” Fox replies, and a girl in a red latex suit throws her arm around his shoulders, laughing.

“Wouldn’t want an incident like last time, huh? Just make sure to warn us if anything happens, ‘kay?” She asks cheerfully and what had to have been Akira’s cat jumps up and down, waving his arms around.

“Yes, please! Warn me next time, okay?! I… really didn’t need to go through that kind of experience!” The cat monster thing berates their teammate.

Sakamoto laughs, and a girl in a hat tries to cover her own giggles, “You still ain’t finding that funny, huh, Mona?” He asks the cat, who looks ready for a fight with him until the girl with the hat steps between them.

“Now, now, Mona, Skull, I thought you two were getting along now?” She asks in a high pitched, but very soft voice, “Now then, shall we proceed with our requests?”

Akira nods, readjusting his bright red gloves while the cat hops onto one of the turnstiles behind him. He looks around the group, and gives them a smug grin before turning around to the turnstiles, "It's showtime!" He announces before walking to the escalator.

The entire group makes their way into the depths with Jason and Akechi watching them go in the distance. Once they stop hearing the footsteps, Jason asks his questions, “Why are we here anyway?”

“I needed to confirm two things,” Akechi explains, coming out from behind the wall he was hiding behind, “The girl with the hat, Haru Okumura. She is the heiress to a food chain business that her father runs. If she has joined their team then I can only assume their next target is Okumura himself. Beyond that, I wish to know where they stand in terms of strength. Know thy enemy, as it were.”

Okumura… that’s one name he’s definitely heard before. Jason’s certain he’s one of the guys involved in the conspiracy, and even Akechi seems to be curious about the Thieves’ involvement with him. The trip to Mementos may have been worth it after all, he thinks while following Akechi down into the depths once more.

* * *

“Dance, Carmen!” Panther, as Jason learned was the name of the blonde-haired girl in the red latex suit shouts as she pulls off her mask and summons her Persona. The attack she throws at the Shadows ahead burns them, while her teammates deal with some of the other Shadows surrounding them.

“Take them down, Captain Kidd!” Skull shouts as he unleashes his own electric attack at the other Shadows, causing one of them to get knocked off it’s feet. Running back, he passes by Queen, riding on her motorbike themed Persona, and high-fives her on the way.

“Nice, you powered up from the pass!” Oracle, the red-headed girl, announces from a spaceship like persona right above them all that she referred to as Necronomicon.

“Johanna!” Queen calls out, driving at the Shadows right before making a sudden turn which unleashes blue energy from its wheels.

There’s only one enemy left by the time she passes her attack to the leader, “Joker! He’s all yours!” She announces when she drives past him.

The unfortunately named Joker, in Jason’s opinion at least, runs at the Shadow, slashes at it twice with his knife, backflips, then shoots at it from the gun he managed to pull out while in the air. He may be using a different name name, but Jason can tell Akira’s got the cockiness and personality of Dick Grayson more than he does of the actual Joker.

On its knees, the Shadow pleas for it’s life while the rest of the group has it’s guns trained on it. Looking at everyone knowingly, Joker backflips again, exchanging the gun for the knife, and each of the Thieves follows him, only to rush the Shadow and slash at it until it also turns into red and black mist. As soon as they're done, the monster cat turns back into a van, which as Akechi insists is not completely crazy, and they drive off down the tracks.

Unfortunately, they all seem too focused on the fight to discuss strategy, and when in the car neither Jason nor Akechi can hear what they say. With little reason to stay, the two begin making their way back up to the surface before they’re uncovered, “how come they don’t cause mental shutdowns? That looked like the same thing you did.”

“The Shadows here are… different as well,” Akechi explains, “The ones you see running away are not specific to one person. As far as I can tell, they are a collective unconscious, Shadows representing a collective emotion rather than the desire of one individual. For example, most people dread intense heat and wish to cool off if they can, it is an emotion shared by many, however, if one persons desire to get away from the heat is intense enough, itmay cause them to act outside of the social norms, enough that their own desire manifests in here.”

“So, killing a regular Shadow in all of this basically has the same effect as turning on the air conditioning to calm people down?” Jason asks.

“In this metaphor? The effect is far smaller, yes,” Akechi continues, “It is closer to trying to blow cold air at a crowd with one piece of paper compared to taking and throwing one of these individuals in the arctic to cool off. It’s an extremely simplistic view of it all, but even I don’t know everything about the Metaverse... at least, to the best of my knowledge. The information I'm given about this world is quite limited, and for the most part requires me to figure things out on my own.”

When they reach the next floor, the same rattling chains can be heard as before, and Akechi picks up his pace, practically running in search of the next exit, “It’s the Reaper again. We need to leave.”

“What’s the-,” Jason tries to ask, but he’s cut off when in the distance a different kind of Shadow appears, one wearing a long cloak, covered in chains and holding two guns in his hands, “Right… Reaper.”

“Loki!” Akechi quickly summons, stepping in front of Jason. The same light as he saw appear in front of Akechi when he first found him in the depths appears in front of him twice, once it’s orange and the second time it’s blue, “I’ll need to distract it before we can escape.”

The Reaper shoot his gun into the air, and Jason pulls out his own two guns, “I’m not going to leave you alone with something called ‘the Reaper’!”

Akechi shakes his head while his Persona tries to slash at it with his sword, but it barely seems to have an effect, “I’m not going to fight it, you idiot, I’m just going to- argh!” He shouts when the Reaper pulls the trigger on Akechi twice, one bullet bouncing off while the other shoots him right in the gut. It’s nowhere near as bad as if he’d been shot in the real world, but even moving his hand away from the spot reveals that he’s bleeding.

Jason reaches into the inside of his jacket, “People’s beliefs become real in this world, right?”

“Y-yes,” Akechi croaks out.

“Great, then this should have way more of an effect than it would normally,” He pulls out three small balls from his pocket and throws them on the ground. Just as expected, the entire place gets covered in smoke. His helmet allows him to see through it all, and the Reaper doesn’t seem to be looking in their direction anymore, as if confused by its surroundings. He grabs Akechi, gets him to his feet and with Jason's help the two of them run out from the place.

* * *

In the real world, Jason manages to help Akechi into a public bathroom, locking the door behind them. When Akechi moves his hand, he reveals that even here his uniform is stained in his own blood. Jason pulls out his phone, ready to call for an ambulance when Akechi snatches it away from him, “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Getting you to a hospital like a normal person would,” Jason tells him and quite easily manages to take the phone back from him, “Don’t tell me you’re too proud to go to a hospital?”

“Of course not, I’m not an idiot,” Akechi shakes his head and moves his hand back over his wound, “However I have no way of explaining this injury and word will quickly get out into the public, including my employer. It’s nothing I can’t handle with a simple first aid kit back in my apartment.”

Feeling like he owes the guy for distracting him back in Mementos when the other told him to get out, Jason puts his phone back in his pocket, then goes to unlock the bathroom door, “Your call. At least let me help you with it.”

“You’re going to follow me back to my apartment regardless, aren’t you?”

“It’s better than manhandling you to a hospital, isn’t it?”

* * *

Taking Akechi back to his place doesn’t take as long as Jason expected, making him suspect even further that it’s not even the first time he’s come home in this kind of state. When Akechi opens the door, Jason finds his bathroom, searches his cupboards until he finds the aforementioned first aid kit. He walks back into the room where Akechi’s already removed his jacket and moved his shirt up just enough to show the wound on his stomach.

Jason first begins to clear away the blood to get a closer look at the gash, which luckily for Akechi doesn’t seem to be particularly deep, presumably thanks to his persona. The two of them remain quiet, but judging by his expression, Akechi’s trying to come up with his own way to start a sentence. Working in silence, Jason gives him the time to figure it out.

“If the offer is still on the table… perhaps I could do with an unqualified therapist,” Akechi says, and with nothing more than a nod to keep him talking, he continues, “You weren’t wrong in thinking our circumstances were similar. As soon as he learned my mother was pregnant, my disgrace of a father ran off, leaving her to give birth to a bastard child. Having no father in this country is one thing but being unwanted… it comes with its own stigma. My mother couldn’t bare it, or the thought of my father run away from both of us. She took her own life when I was 11, and after that I was bounced around my relatives and the foster care system.”

“What changed when you were 15?” Jason asks while getting out the disinfectant and pouring it onto a swab.

Akechi hisses at the first touch of it against his wound, but continues his story nevertheless, “An app on my phone appearing allowing me to enter the cognitive world. It gave me the chance to take vengeance against the man who ruined my life. Unfortunately, by then I learned he was a high-ranking politician. It gave me an idea, however.”

“I’m guessing it didn’t involve murder?”

Akechi shakes his head, “No, initially I came to him and offered to help him by causing psychotic breakdowns to his opponents, forcing them to commit crimes which I would then solve and allow him to gain popularity. I was in far too deep when he first asked me to murder someone. It didn’t matter, I was too driven in my cause to destroy the man when he got to the top. Won’t be long now.”

“That’s what the conspiracy is about?” Jason inquires, finally getting the answer he’s been waiting for, “My… okay screw it, a guy called Grayson asked me to look into how the mental shutdowns are connected to a guy called Masayoshi Shido, and you’re saying it’s all a way for him to get more power?”

Akechi nods and hisses again when Jason applies the swab to his wound. Finally, he moves it away and begins his job of patching up the detective, “His goal was always to become Prime Minister, I’m simply speeding up the process.”

“And you don’t care that I know this now?”

“You have no evidence on either of us, it is all circumstantial,” Akechi says, looking away from Jason now, “And I can tell you now, that by the time you do find such evidence, Shido will have been humiliated and long forgotten. I don’t much care what happens to me after that.”

With far too much experience in this, Jason’s done pretty quickly. He stands up straight once it’s over and packs up the rest of the first aid kit while putting everything the needs to be thrown out in a small pile that he’ll deal with later, “Relax, I’ve decided not to tell Grayson about any of this. I’m not going to stop you from doing all of this anyway, I figure it’s too late for you and you won’t take no for an answer even if you weren’t in so deep.”

“I didn’t ask for your opinion,” Akechi snaps at him, pulling his shirt down and standing up. Great, now he’s back to being a repressed asshole again.

“Well suck it up, cos you’re getting it anyway,” Jason calls out from the bathroom, and when he returns, he picks up what he left on the table so he can throw out all of the trash, “I’ve been there before, and I get it. But you’re walking a real thin line there. As Shido’s hitman you’re completely disposable once the elections are over, so if you really are going through with this, make sure to act fast.”

“You aren’t going to stop me after all then,” Akechi realises in a far calmer tone from the one he used earlier. He clears his throat, “After everything you’ve learned, you really aren’t going to sell me out?”

“Maybe to a therapist, sure,” Jason throws back at him. He picks up his bag off the floor and makes his way to the front door, “Like I said, I’ve been there. My advice would normally be to ditch all of this and live a life outside of the charismatic detective prince and the hitman bullshit if you can… but I also know you’re not going to listen to it.”

Akechi looks away, clenching his fist, but after some thought, he lets go and huffs, “Hmph, well, I’m grateful for the talk, and for tending to my wound if nothing else.”

Jason reaches for the doorknob and sighs, “Yeah, that’s what I thought you’d say.”

* * *

It’s not till a couple of months later that Jason finds himself back in Gotham, reading through the news on his phone while perched up on the edge of the roof of an apartment block. There’s some time to kill before Sionis’ men come for the drug pick up, so how better to use his time than catch up on what’s going on around the world. Not that there’s ever anything good to read up on these days.

Too late does he notice someone else swinging in his direction, an annoying blue bird that makes his way to the same roof as Jason and takes a seat right next to him, “You know, normal families tell each other when they’re in town. They don’t uncover that by meeting up during a drug bust.”

Jason shrugs and continues flicking through the news on his phone, “I didn’t recall us ever being normal, Dick. Not much of a family either. Don’t worry, I’m behaving myself tonight if that’s why Bats sent you.”

Nightwing shakes his head, “I came here to check on you myself, since, y’know, you took off never to be heard from after you went to Japan? Maybe you can tell me how Masayoshi Shido became the new prime minister even after he confessed to obstruction of justice, fraud and among many other things, murder?”

“Huh?” That’s definitely been off Jason’s radar. Why would Shido confess? Was it that change of heart thing the Phantom Thieves did? But if he confessed then…

He quickly googles the name, figuring it must come up with such a prominent figure as Akechi and Shido, but there’s nothing but month-old stories declaring his win over the Phantom Thieves. It’s near the bottom of the page that he finds a translated article and tries to make sense of it, but the words aren’t completely clear. He goes back to the original and points the screen in Dick’s direction, “You know Japanese, right?”

“I already told you, I couldn’t go because-,” Dick begins but Jason quickly shakes his head.

“No, I don’t care about what you were up to with the wannabe Justice League, I want you to translate this for me,” he gives the phone to Dick, who reads through the article before giving him a summary.

“It’s talking about that Akechi kid, the Detective Prince guy. Apparently, he hasn’t been seen for a few weeks now, not even his school knows where he is,” Dick explains and gives him back the phone, “So, you actually did go and talk to him then?”

Jason puts his phone back into his pocket and folds his arms, “Yeah, he was even worse than Bruce.”

“Is that why you still care about what happened to him two months later?” Nightwing presses, then looks down when he begins to hear the commotion bellow, “It’s showtime,” the acrobat grapples down, but Jason takes a bit longer to get down.

Maybe the kid did take his advice.

At least, it’s the easiest thing for Jason to think right now.


End file.
